The attorney representing the family of Tamla Horsford, a Forsyth County, Georgia woman, who was found dead after attending an adult sleepover, believes “homicide is a strong possibility” after conducting a review of his own.
Horsford, a married mother of five, was found dead in the backyard in November of 2018 by one of the other partygoers.
In a letter obtained by WSB-TV Atlanta, attorney Ralph Fernandez expressed severe misgiving about the way the case was handled.
“Witness statements are in conflict. A potential subject handled the body as well as the evidence prior to law enforcement arrival. Evidence was disposed of, and no inquiry followed. The scene was not preserved,” Fernandez’s letter reads. “Evidence was inappropriately handled.”
“A remarkable fact is that there were no photographs taken during the autopsy of Tamla’s body,” Fernandez continues, suggesting “such a practice is unheard of.”
The medical examiner’s report listed Horsford’s cause of death consistent with falling off the back deck of the home she stayed over at and the resulting blunt force trauma from the fall. Horsford suffered injuries to her head, neck and torso, had cuts to her face, wrist, hand, and lower legs. The autopsy also lists a laceration to the right ventricle of her heart.
Fernandez believes that Tamla’s injuries are instead consistent with having been in a struggle and that “there were abrasions noted consistent with that scenario.”
“Since they were fresh, photos would have proven recent use of defensive force. But having no photos inures to our detriment. There was one X-Ray, yet the injury noted as the cause of death appears nowhere.”
Fernandez concludes the letter by calling attention to the disparity in which cases of African American’s are investigated, naming Ahmaud Arbery’s case as an example that without the video being widely circulated, there would never have been an arrest.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office closed Horsford’s case in February of 2019, stating there was no evidence of foul play.
THREAD: Letter attached. pic.twitter.com/wnjdUmjWR1
— Mike Petchenik (@Mike_Petchenik) June 6, 2020
